I was going to stay out of this discussion, but I feel partially responsible as it was I that posted the WMPL poll to the list. Please bear with me while I reproduce it below: > 1. Maine (7) 97 > 2. Michigan (2) 91 > 3. Minnesota (1) 72 > 4. Clarkson 68 > 5. Lake Superior 56 > 6. Northern Michigan 48 > 7. New Hampshire 36 > 8. Michigan State 18 > 9. Providence 14 > St. Lawrence 14 > > Others receiving votes: Alaska-Anchorage, Boston University, > Minnesota-Duluth, Harvard, Western Michigan Now, let's take a look at the numbers. Hmmm, Minnesota barely edged out Clarkson for the #3 spot by four points. But, what's this? One of the voters gave his #1 vote to Minnesota! Now, I love the Golden Gophers as much as anyone on the list, but even I ranked them #4 when I submitted my votes to the HOCKEY-L poll this week. One WMPL voter was sufficiently impressed, however, that he ranked them #1, probably giving them just enough points to squeak into the #3 spot ahead of Clarkson. This goes to show how volatile the polls can be at this early stage of the season. Clarkson and Minnesota demonstrably belong in the top five at this point, but I can't get excited about the exact placement. It's not as though we were discussing soemthing really important, like ceramic Dalmatians. :-) -- Erik